Adjustable-filter cigarette



SePt- 6, 1966 R. A. CAMPBELL 3,270,750

ADJUSTABLE-FILTER CIGARETTE Filed Sept. 16, 1960 IN VEN TOR.

ROBERT A. CAMPBELL United States Patent O 3,270,750 ADIUSTABLE-FIL'IER CIGARETTE Robert A. Campbell, 167 N. Ridgeland Ave.,

@ak Park, Ill. Filed Sept. 16, 1960, Ser. No. 56,377 3 Claims. (Cl. 131 10) The present invention consists of an adjustable-filter cigarette, which includes a cigarette provided with a digitally adjustable filter which can be controlled so as to provide virtually any desired degree of filtration of the cigarette smoke to suit the individual smoker of the cigarette. In one form, the digitally adjustable filter may comprise a heavy-duty filter positioned in series relationship with respect to the tobacco in the cigarette, usually adjacent the mouth-engageable end of the cigarette, although not necessarily so limited, `and provided with an yaperture-defining portion through the lter. It should be noted that lthe aperture-defining portion effectively comprises a filter by-pass which will allow a greater or lesser proportion of the cigarette smoke to by-pass the filter in accordance with the characteristics of the aperture. In one form of the invention, the aperture through the filter may be so arranged as to be controllably digitally closable whereby to control the amount of cigarette smoke which can pass therethrough and, therefore, to correspondingly control the amount of smoke which must pass through the filter itself and be effectively filtered. The aperture through the filter may be positioned peripherally therethrough, longitudinally centrally coaxially therethrough, in various other suitable locations, 'or in `any combination thereof. In certain forms of the invention, the by-pass aperture through `the filter may be initially provided with digitally controllably removable closure plug means whereby initially the aperture through the filter is effectively closed so that the cigarette smoke will pass substantially entirely through the filter and will be very thoroughly filtered. It will be understood that removal of the digitally controllably removable closure plug means, either wholly or in part, will correspondingly allow a greater portion `of the cigarette smoke -to pass through the aperture and to escape the full action of the filter, thus decreasing the degree of over-all filtration of the cigarette smoke. It should further be noted that in certain forms of the invention the digita-lly controllably removable closure plug means may comprise digitally engageable and removable longitudinal core element means carried within the aperture of the filter and so arranged as to be removable in whole or in part therefrom whereby to control the effective by-pass characteristics of the aperture.

It should also be noted that the aperture-defining portion through the filter may, in certain forms of the invention, be provided with normally inoperative adhesive means engageable, upon digital crushing closure of the aperture-defining portion, to fasten and retain opposed parts of the aperture-defining portion together in closed relationship.

It should be noted that any or all of the above structural arrangements may 'oe used individually or in combination, and that, if desired, a plurality of filter elements, with either or both of the elements employing certain of the above by-pass arrangements, may be arranged in series relationship with respect to the tobacco in the cigarette, in end-to-end relationship adjacent to the mouthengageable end of the cigarette, or in abutting or spaced relationship elsewhere within the tobacco of the cigarette. In other words, the present invention is of broad scope and may take a variety of different forms, all within the basic inventive concept of the present invention, which comprises the provision of a cigarette provided with a filter which is effectively digitally controllable 'whereby ice the effective filtration lof the overall smoke passing through the cigarette, can be adjusted.

It is an object of the present invention Ito provide a novel adjustable-filter cigarette of the character referred to above and including any of the different types of structures referred to above, which is adapted to adjust-ably filter cigarette smoke exactly to the taste of an individual smoker and which is of extremely simple, cheap, foolproof construction such as to be conducive to widespread use thereof.

Further objects are implicit in the detailed description which follows hereinafter and will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study thereof.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention, several exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the hereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying drawings and are described in detail hereinafter.

FIG. l is a central longitudinal cross-sectional view of one illustrative embodiment of the present invention showing a burning cigarette having a centrally apertured filter element adapted to be controllably digitally closed. The filter is in the fully-open position which provides very mild effective filtration of the overall smoke from the burning end of the cigarette.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of the right end of the cigarette of FIG. 1 showing the central `aperture in the filter element substantially closed as a result of digitally squeezing the exterior of the portion `of the cigarette containing the filter. This view shows the filter in fullyclosed maximum filtration position.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken in the direction of the arrows 3 3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken in the direction of the arrows 4 4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to the right en'd of FIG. l, but illustrating a modified form wherein Ithe aperture is peripherally located rather than substantially centrally coaxially located. This view shows the filter in minimum filtration position.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to the right end of FIG. 2 but of the modified form illustrated in FIG. 5 and shows the peripheral aperture means through the filter in substantially fully closed maximum filtration position.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken in the direction of the arrows 7 7 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken in the direction of the arrows 8 8 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to the right end of FIG. 1 and the right end of FIG. 5 in combination. In other words, this view includes both an edge aperture and a central aperture through the filter which may be digitally crushed in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 1-8 to provide maximum filtration and which, as shown in FIG. 9, provides minimum ltration.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view similar to FIG. l, but sh-owing two filters in series relationship with a first one being centrally apertured and comprising a Very strong filter similar to that shown in FIG. 1 and with a second filter at the extreme rig-ht end comprising a relatively weak filter.

FIG. 11 shows the front centrally apertured filter of FIG. 10 in the closed maximum filtration position.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 10, but shows a slight modification wherein the outermost or right end relatively weak filter is also centrally apertured and is controllably crushable, thus providing an arrangement whereby either filter can be controllably closed in a manner such as to provide an extreme range of variation of the degree of filtration.

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary view generally similar to FIG. 1, but shows an arrangement where the centrally apertured filter is not at the mouth-engageable end of the cigarette but is positioned forwardly thereof within the tobacco of the cigarette.l Furthermore, this modification shows an arrangement where the aperture-defining portion of the filter is provided with interior .adhesive means engageable upon digital crushing closure thereof to fasten and retain opposed parts of the aperture-defining portion of the filter together in closed relationship as shown in FIG. 14. It should be understood that this adhesive fastening means may be employed in .any of the other versions of the invention having aperture-defining portions therein.

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13 but showing the filter in closed maximum filtration position.

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but shows a slightly modified form wherein the aperture of lthe filter is provided with closure plug means therefor which is digitally controllably removable when desired, thus making it possible to first open the aperture through the filter and to then controllably .crush same to any desired degree whereby virtually any type and quantity of effective overall smoke filtration can be obtained.

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating a slight modification of the invention including a closure plug means in the aperture of the filter and taking a specific form wherein the closure plug means comprises a digitally engageable and removable longitudinal core element carried within the aperture of the filter and consisting of individually removable parts or sections (shown as being three in number), whereby Ithe core may remain in place in complete form, or in twothirds its normal length, or in one-third its normal length, or may be removed completely, thus providing four degrees of adjustment of the extent of effective overall cigarette smoke filtration in addition to the control which may be provided by subsequent digital crushing of the aperture through the filter to any desired degree.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4 for exemplary purposes, one illustrative embodiment of the invention takes a typical exemplary form wherein it comprises a cigarette 2 0 provided with a filter 21 having a digitally controllable aperture-defining portion or means 22, which in this particular exemplary embodiment is shown as comprising a substantially longitudinal coaxial aperture extending through the filter 21 from end to end and adapted to be digitally controllably crushed to any desired degree from the fullyopen minimum filtration position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 (which corresponds to maximum by-pass of unfiltered smoke) toward the fully closed, maximum filtration position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. It will readily be understood that this control of the by-pass provided by the aperture 22 effectively varies the overall filtration of the cigarette smoke from a minimum to a maximum value, which may be adjusted by a smoker to precisely that value which he desires.

FIGS. 5-8 illustrate a modification of the invention very similar to the first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, except that the aperture-defining portion 221A is peripherally positioned with respect to the filter 21A and is carried immediately inside of the corresponding outer portion of the cigarette wrapper or paper 23. The operation of .this modification is quite similar to that of the first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 in that the aperture 22A is adapted to be digitally con- .trollably crushed to any desired degree from the fully-open minimum filtration position shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 to- .ward the fully-closed maximum filtration position shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. Similar parts are indicated by similar reference numerals, followed by the letter A, however.

FIG. 9 illustrates another modification o f the invention which actually consists of a combination of the first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 and the second form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 5 8, and corresponding parts .are indicated by similar reference numerals, primed, however. The operation of this modification is identical to the operation of the first two forms described hereinbefore except that either or both of the bypasses or apertures may be controllably crushed, thus providing a greater `range of control in the degree of filtration of the cigarette smoke.

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate another modification of the invention wherein parts similar to those shown in the first form of the invention are indicated by similar reference numerals, followed 'by the letter B, however. In this modification, the centrally apertured filter 21B comprises a very powerful type of filter such as made from ceramic fiber, or the like, and this filter is one which has the central aperture 22B. However, this modification includes a second relatively weak type of filter 24 positioned at the mouth-engageable end of the cigarette in series relationship with the strong filter 21B. It will be understood that the strong centrally apertured filter 21B may be controllably crushed to any desired degree from the fully-open, minimum filtration position shown in FIG. 11 in a manner substantially identical to the first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-4. However, the auxiliary weak end filter 24 provides some degree of auxiliary, relatively weak filtration in all instances.

FIG. 12 is a view very similar to FIG. 10, and similar parts are indicated by similar reference numerals, followed by the letter C, however. In this modification, both the strong or heavy-duty filter 21C and the weaker auxiliary end filter 24C are centrally apertured, as indicated at 22C `and 25, whereby either or both of the central apertures 22C and 25 may be controllably crushed to any desired degree whereby to provide a greater range of overall adjustment of effective cigarette smoke filtration than is possible with the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11.

FIG. 13 is a View similar to FIG. 1, and similar parts are indicated by similar reference numerals, followed by the letter D, however. In this modication the centrally apertured filter 21D is not positioned at the mouthengageable end of the cigarette, but is positioned forwardly thereof so as to actually 'be within the tobacco of the cigarette and in series relationship with respect thereto. The central by-pass aperture 22D is digitally controllably crushable in the same manner as the first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 but, in this modification, is shown as being provided with normally inoperable adhesive means 26, which is engageable upon digital crushing closure of the aperture 22D whereby to fasten and retain opposed parts of the aperture-defining portion 22D of the filter 21D together in the closed relationship shown in FIG. 14. It should be clearly and specifically understood that this feature is intended to be included and comprehended in the present invention in association with any of the other aperturedefining portions shown in any of the other drawings.

FIG. 15 is a view generally similar to FIG. 1, but illustrates a slight modification of the invention. In this view, similar parts are indicated by similar reference numerals, followed by the letter 15, however. In this modification, the centrally apertured filter 21E is provided with closure plug means, indicated generally at 27, adapted to be initially fastened by suitably adhesive means 28 across the open outer end of the aperture 22E through the filter 21E whereby to effectively close said aperture 22E so that initially all cigarette smoke will `be drawn through the filter 21E, thus providing maximum filtration. However, the closer plug means 27 (which may be lmade of paper, cardboard, or any other suitable material) may be digitally removed, preferably by means of a finger tab 29, which will thus effectively open the aperture 22E and provide minimum filtration of the cigarette smoke. After this, the aperture 22E may be controllably digitally crushed to any desired degree toward a fully closed position such as shown in connection with the first form of the invention in FIGS. 2

and 4, thus providing any desired degree of filtration up to full maximum filtration again when the aperture 22E is fully closed.

FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but illustrates another modification of the invention wherein similar parts will be indicated by similar reference numerals, followed by the letter F, however. In this modication, the central aperture 22F in the filter 21E is initially effectively plugged with closure plug means indicated generally at 27F, which comprises a digitally engageable and removable longitudinal core element consisting, in the example illustrated, of three individually removable parts 30a, 30b `and 30C. This three-part core element may be made of the same material as the rest of the filter 21F, or of other suitable material, if desired. In certain cases, this material may be substantially non-transmissive to smoke and, in those cases where it comprises the same material as the filter element 21F, of course, the closure plug means 27E will naturally be transmissive to smoke and will effectively filter same. In any case, the closure plug means 27F is initially in the position shown in FIG. 16, thus providing maximum cigarette smoke filtration. However, the closure plug means 27F may be digitally removed, either w-holly or in part, so as to leave in the hole either all three parts 30a, 30b and 30C, only two of said parts, only one of said parts, or may be removed entirely, thus providing four different degrees of filtration. After this, the aperture 22F may be controllably digitally crushed to any desired degree from the fully-open position toward a fully-closed position such as is shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 in connection with the first form of the invention, whereby to provide a maximum range of filtration adjustment in this modification of the invention.

It should be noted that the multiple-part core element 27E may be integrally connected but provided with separation breakage planes or lines which comprise partially weakened portions at the locations indicated `by the reference numeral 31, `or the three parts 30a, 30h and 30C may be initially separated, and each provided with a tab projecting outwardly through the end of the aperture 22E for convenient digital removal thereof.

It should be understood that the figures and the specific description thereof set forth in this application are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specific structure shown in the figures and specifically described hereinbefore. Rather,

the real invention is intended to include substantially equivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.

I claim:

1. In a cigarette, the combination `of an elongated cylin-drical body filled with tobacco for the major portion of its length, a cylinder of crusha'ble filter material at one end of said body, said cylinder having an axial bore extending the full length thereof and a removable plug of filter material normally substantially filling and closing said bore, whereby upon removal of said plug, smoke may pass from the ignited tobacco directly to the mouth of the user without filtering, the smoke being fully filtered when the cigarette is smoked with said plug in position, said `bore being provided interiorly with normally inoperative, pressure sensitive self sealing adhesive means, said adhesive being non-adherent to said plug, but operative for self adhering sealing engagement upon digital crushing closure of said -bore to fasten and retain opposed parts of said bore together in closed relationship, after removal of said plug, to reestablish full filtering of the smoke.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said closure plug is comprised of a plurality of elongated separate segments which may be individually removed to afford a successively decreasing length of filter material in said bore to reduce the effective filtering effect in accordance with the number of unremoved segments.

3. The structure off claim 2 wherein each segment is provide-d with tab -means facilitating removal thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 492,676 2/1893 Harris 131-13 1,892,402 12/1932 Lankering 13 1h13 1,926,564 9/1933 Sharp 131-11 2,030,319 2/1936 Rambert 131-13 2,349,551 5/1944 Helm 131-13 2,695,617 ll/1954 Warnberg 131-10 2,764,513 9/1956 Brothers 131-10 2,854,985 10/1958 Watkins 131-10 2,890,703 7/1959 Grow 131-10 2,949,116 8/1960 Balkind 131-10 2,958,328 11/1960 Bartolomeo 131-10 SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

MELVIN D. REIN, Examiner. 

1. IN A CIGARETTE, THE COMBINATION OF AN ELONGATED CYLINDRICAL BODY FILLED WITH TOBACCO FOR THE MAJOR PORTION OF ITS LENGTH, A CYLINDER OF CRUSHABLE FILTER MATERIAL AT ONE END OF SAID BODY, SAID CYLINDER HAVING AN AXIAL BORE EXTENDING THE FULL LENGTH THEREOF AND A REMOVABLE PLUG OF FILTER MATERIAL NORMALLY SUBSTANTIALLY FILLING AND CLOSING SAID BORE, WHEREBY UPON REMOVAL OF SAID PLUG, SMOKE MAY PASS FROM THE IGNITED TOBACCO DIRECTLY TO THE MOUTH OF THE USER WITHOUT FILTERING, THE SMOKE BEING FULLY FILTERED WHEN THE CIGARETTE IS SMOKED WITH SAID PLUG IN POSITION, SAID BORE BEING PROVIDED INTERIORLY WITH NORMALLY INOPERATIVE, PRESSURE SENSITIVE SELF SEALING ADHESIVE MEANS, SAID ADHESIVE BEING NON-ADHERENT TO SAID PLUG, BUT OPERATIVE FOR SELF ADHERING SEALING ENGAGEMENT UPON DIGITAL CRUSHING CLOSURE OF SAID BORE TO FASTEN AND RETAIN OPPOSED PARTS OF SAID BORE TOGETHER IN CLOSED RELATIONSHIP, AFTER REMOVAL OF SAID PLUG, TO REESTABLISH FULL FILTERING OF THE SMOKE. 